6 ways to improve your business page on Facebook
I recently received a phone call from a woman trying to build up her business on Facebook. She works as a beauty consultant for a large makeup company and she received very little training on how to present herself online.
I’m surprised that these types of companies don’t provide more training. I mean, it’s essential to carry over the right information, look, and feel of the brand. It’s also improtant to note that having a professional presence could help the company’s bottom line in the short and long run. The same is true for any small business that’s trying to expand their online web presence through social media.
In this article, we’re going to discuss a few of the things you should do when creating—or updating—your business’s social media presence.
Dos and don’ts of Facebook business page design
Because I see the same mistakes made time after time, I thought it would be best to start with a list of dos and don’ts. I’ll use the example of a beauty consultant to illustrate this. But first, let’s make sure you’re creating the right type of Facebook business page.
Unless you have a solid reason for a private page, make a public business page so it’s discoverable by anyone on Facebook.
1. Share a relevant cover image.
Many businesses find a pretty or intriguing picture to use for their cover image. In the example below, the flowers with the pink background may appeal to your target audience, but it’s not relevant, nor does is scream makeup or beauty.
In the lower image, the eyeshadow pallet immediately communicates what this page is all about.
DO: Find a professional and relevant image for your page. Use images that clearly display your own products or services whenever possible.
DON’T: Use an image that has poor lighting, blurred focal point, or doesn’t represent the actual product or service you’re providing.
2. Deliver a clear font and message.
Too often, I see business owners use bright colors, cursive, and centered text—pasted directly on top of an already busy image. When you add multiple, incompatible fonts to that same image, it’s hard (if not impossible) to take seriously. One more thing, even the most aggressive drop shadow, won’t make the font “pop” as you can see in the first image below.
In the second image, we’ve used a simple-to-read font, left aligned with the second line indented. We’ve also placed a white box behind the text and set the opacity to allow the image to show through without overpowering the message.
We’ve also updated the message. In the first, “live a beautiful life” could mean nearly anything, though the picture of makeup implies it’s relevant to the message. In the second, we presume our audience is already living a great life and we’re here to help them make it even more so with beauty supplies.
DO: Use simple-to-read fonts in plain colors on neutral backgrounds. Left-align whenever possible.
DON’T: Use cursive, mismatched fonts, drop shadows, glows, or bright colors that distract from your image.
3. Maximize your description.
You have 255 characters to describe your page to the world. Choose your words wisely to present a solution that your audience will care about. One common mistake is to be too factual, dry, and focus on you. You can see what I mean by reading the first example below.
The second example provides a solution right up front and then backs it with evidence.
“Look and feel your best …”
How?
With the great things we’ll be posting on our social media page.
Finally, this last example shows how we’ve incorporated this advice into our Alter Ethos Facebook page description.
DO: Make it about your audience and use an active word to lead into your description.
DON’T: Make it all about you, or reiterate dry facts.
4. Follow the 80/20 rule.
If you haven’t heard of this rule, it’s simple: 80% of everything you post should be value-based content with only 20% of your posts being promotional. For a beauty consultant, this could look something like the following topics for a post schedule:
- Post 1—Lengthen your lashes with these five tips
- Post 2—Why organic matters (hint: it’s all about your skin)
- Post 3—Are eyes really the window to the soul?
[link to third party article] - Post 4—How often do you clean your brushes?
[link to third party YouTube video] - Post 5—25% off XYZ lip liner for the next 24 hours!
The average person sees between 6,000 and 10,000 ads per day. They don’t need more ads—and if that’s all you’re feeding them, they’ll abandon your page. They need to know your company provides value and that you can provide valid solutions to their challenges. See some excellent examples of how other companies are creating posts and ads that their audience can relate to in this blog post: 10 examples of motivator-driven social media ads and posts
DO: Provide value-based content the majority of the time, even if it means referring them to content someone else created (a YouTube video, an expert article, etc.).
DON’T: Overwhelm your audience with ads or promotional posts.
5. Align social posts and ads to your brand.
Too often, I see brands post “funny” or “inspiring” content to their pages that has nothing to with the product or service they’re providing. Yes, your audience may find cat videos amusing, but that’s not why they’re visiting your page—unless you sell cat sweaters or some other cat-related product. Remember, if you continue to veer from your brand’s purpose, your audience will eventually veer from your page.
If you do post a meme, gif, or video that you’ve found elsewhere, make sure it ties back in a real way to your brand, product, or service.
DO: Provide content that promotes your brand, product, or service—or that directly relates. Use images, colors, and fonts that align with your brand. Learn how to do this well in this Skillshare course: Build a Better Ad or Post: Social Media & Facebook Ad Copywriting.
DON’T: Post memes or gifs that have nothing to do with your brand or offerings—or that use colors or images that don’t align with your purpose.
6. Use relevant hashtags.
Hashtags should be relevant and specific. If you’re a beauty consultant, you could use hashtags that are a bit more specific than #makeup, and may include:
- #makeupbundle
- #makeuptips
- #makeuptutorial
You should also include your brand name in your hashtags.
Researching your hashtags is simple. Type a general hashtag into the left-top search bar and then view the list that pops up below. As you click on the more specific hashtags, you’ll get to view the number of people who are currently “talking” about that hashtag as well as recent Facebook posts that use that hashtag.
Create a list of relevant hashtags and use them as you post new content to your Facebook business page.
DO: Use relevant and specific hashtags. Use 4–5 hashtags per post. Include your brand name as a hashtag.
DON’T: Be too general in your hashtags. For example:
- If your business is specific to a location, remember that #hygiene isn’t the same as the city of #hygienecolorado and #alpine means something different than the city of #alpineutah
- #beauty can be interpreted in many ways, whereas #makeup is more specific to product
- 3.8 million people are talking about #makeup, which provides more competition than something more specific like #makeuptips—and #eyelinertutorial is even more specific
Get more Facebook for business help
If you’d like more help for your Facebook business page, please connect with us and we’ll walk you through the services we provide. This includes an analysis of your overall web presence and/or trainings such as:
- Improving your social media page and marketing.
- Getting the most out of your SEO, keyword, and hashtag strategy.
- Developing better branding, messaging, and content.
